


don't say we're not meant to be.

by paleromantic



Series: AFTG Bingo - Aaron/Katelyn card [3]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst, F slur, F/M, Family Conflict, Fluff, Homophobia, Overprotective Parents, aaron and katelyn are getting married, katelyn's parents are assholes, katelyn's parents don't like her choices, they love each other so its okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-14 15:45:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16495592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paleromantic/pseuds/paleromantic
Summary: She felt Aaron squeeze her fingers lightly and shot him a grateful smile. She felt like she was going to throw up and heaven knows if he wasn’t here right now then she would have, but he helped her stay calm. She settled her nerves and continued. ‘Aaron and I are getting married and we’d like you to be involved. The wedding will be in September. In Colombia.’Her parent’s reactions were immediate and identical, eyes widening comically and faces paling in shock. She had expected this much, at least.(Familial confict prompt)





	don't say we're not meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to @mellsibeth for beta-ing this, it made it so much better! I hope y'all enjoy <3

It was set to be a gorgeous fall and Katelyn could feel her excitement building with every passing day. She knew that some people would see it as foolish, getting married right out of college, but she knew better. The last five years were wonderful but she was well and truly done with waiting to begin her life with her husband-to-be. She and Aaron had started planning this long before he had finally popped the question (the day after their final exam, true to his word). In any case, it wasn’t as if they would have a lot of free time once medical school began, and Katelyn wasn’t willing to wait that long to find time for a wedding.

It would be an outdoor wedding, though a priest would be present to represent both of their religious upbringings. Neither of them cared all that much, but it was tradition. They had always been good at keeping those.

Predictably, Nicky was desperate to be involved in the wedding and had thus far played a huge role in the planning process. Even Andrew, accompanied by Neil, had insisted on footing the majority of the bill. Aaron had been far more surprised than Katelyn, but really, it had been years since Andrew pretended not to care about his brother. Four years of therapy and extended exposure had done wonders for their relationship. It was nice, Katelyn thought, knowing he’d gotten so much help and support from his family, and that he would continue to get it.

She still hadn’t told her own parents about the wedding.

She’d planned to, truly, but they’d never exactly been ecstatic about her relationship with Aaron in the first place. They’d met him exactly once during her time at Palmetto State, along with the other so-called monsters, and it hadn’t been a good night for anyone involved. Of course Neil and Nicky behaved perfectly, even if Katelyn saw Neil bite his tongue on more than one occasion to stop himself from snapping at her parents. She was thankful for the restraint. Andrew had maintained his usual stony silence, although he had let Katelyn sit beside him without glaring at her once. It was progress.

Somehow, her parents had heard about the charges pressed against Aaron back in his second year. Katelyn was sure they’d heard the word ‘murder’ and stopped listening before the phrase ‘self-defence’. They were convinced that he would only hold her back, ruin her life. But they didn’t know him like she did.

‘Kate?’

She blinked herself back into the present and felt her face redden, turning to look sheepishly at her fiancé. Apparently she’d zoned out and hadn’t even noticed that their Uber had stopped idly outside her parent’s house.

‘Oh, sorry.’ She murmured. ‘Just... in a world of my own!’ From Aaron’s grim expression, she was pretty sure he knew exactly why she was so distracted.

‘You okay to go in?’ He asked. Katelyn knew that if she refused, Aaron would happily turn them around to go back home as fast as they could. She also knew that sooner or later, she would have to face her parents. It didn’t mean she wanted to though.

‘As okay as I’ll ever be, babe.’ She smiled and kissed him on the cheek before grabbing her bag, leading him out of the car.

Her parents lived in the same beautiful townhouse that Katelyn had grown up in, which they kept pristine and well-tended. As a child, her mother had instilled her with a strong need for cleanliness, a trait that had followed her in to adulthood. It had even started to rub off on Aaron, she was glad to note.

They walked up the narrow concrete path towards the door, where Aaron knocked firmly on the solid wood and ignored the brass knocker that they had had installed the previous year. Katelyn almost laughed at that, but settled for taking Aaron’s hand and holding it tight. She was really glad that he was there, a solid presence beside her that helped give her the confidence to talk to her parents.

Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, she allowed herself a moment to be grateful for Aaron Michael Minyard.

Her mother answered the door, mousey hair tied up in a messy ponytail and her apron smeared with flour and batter. Despite the nerves that were beginning to bubble in her stomach, Katelyn felt herself start to smile. Her mother loved to bake. They had spent countless afternoons baking when she was little, making brownies, cupcakes, and sponge cakes or whatever else they could think of at the time. They had organised this lunch in advance and Katelyn was touched that her mother had thought to bake for her.

‘Katie!’ Her mother dropped a light kiss on her cheek and ushered her inside, leaving Aaron behind as an afterthought. Katelyn pulled him along though, keeping him close as her mother tried to whisk her away to the kitchen. The house smelled like warm pastry and vanilla. It was familiar and Katelyn could feel herself relaxing instinctually. She turned to smile brightly at Aaron, who rolled his eyes and laughed quietly at her childlike happiness before squeezing her hand.

‘Were so glad you came to see us, Katelyn, we thought you’d forgotten all about us.’ Her mother smiled softly as she took off her apron, putting it into the wash basket before starting to tidy up the counter. Katelyn immediately stepped forward to help her, followed closely by Aaron who stared to move the dirty bowls to the sink to be washed. It was a nice gesture, one that her mother accepted with meek gratitude and only mild awkwardness. ‘Oh, you too Andrew.’

Katelyn sighed. ‘It’s Aaron, mom. You know that.’

Her parents made themselves a habit of slipping up and mixing up the twins names even though they’d only met Andrew the one time. It annoyed Katelyn to no end, although Aaron was yet to react. She appreciated that he was probably just trying not to create a scene and inevitably make the situation worse, even though Katelyn didn’t think she would mind if he did.

‘Oh, Aaron! Yes.’ She nodded and then hummed. ‘Tea?’

They both muttered a weak _yes_ , _please_ and watched as she started to move around the kitchen, getting out mugs and putting water on the boil. Katelyn felt Aaron smooth his thumb over her knuckles with one hand as he used the other to discretely check his phone, quickly typing out a message. No doubt he was updating his family on how the lunch was going so far, considering they had been as worried as she was about how her parents would react.

‘Where’s dad?’ She asked, pushing her hair back behind her ear before taking the mug being handed to her and taking a sip. Her mother took a drink of her own before answering and put it down with a clatter.

‘He’s in the garden. Would you like me to get him?’

‘Please, yeah.’

As soon as she stepped through the large glass doors out to the garden, Katelyn dropped down heavily onto one of the kitchen chairs. The air in her lungs burst out in a cold rush as she groaned loudly. ‘What if they get mad?’

Aaron calmly took a drink and traced small circles on the soft skin inside her wrist. ‘Then we deal with it, and we go home.’

She squeezed his palm tightly, smiling weakly. ‘I love you.’

‘I’d fuckin’ hope so, babe.’ Aaron smirked and her heart stuttered. ‘Love you too.’

Her parents returned then, her father wearing his usual gardening gear. The summer had been kind to him with its perfect planting weather, and it showed in the new lines on his face. He smiled when he saw her though it faded quickly when he spotted the young man standing beside her.

She bit her lip. This was going to be a long day.

‘Katie said she wanted to see you, dear.’ Her mother smiled and then made him his own mug of tea, sweetening it and holding it out for him to take.

Katelyn cleared her throat. ‘Uh, yeah. I… _we_ have something to tell you.’

She felt Aaron squeeze her fingers lightly and shot him a grateful smile. She felt like she was going to throw up and heaven knows if he wasn’t here right now then she would have, but he helped her stay calm. She settled her nerves and continued. ‘Aaron and I are getting married and we’d like you to be involved. The wedding will be in September. In Colombia.’

Her parent’s reactions were immediate and identical, eyes widening comically and faces paling in shock. She had expected this much, at least.

‘You- what? You’re getting married?’ Her mother’s voice shook slightly, and she reached out to grip her husband’s arm. ‘How long have- you never told us!’

Katelyn took a long sip to buy herself some time before replying, then she placed her mug beside her mother’s. ‘We planned on waiting until graduation to think about the wedding, since we were both so busy with our course. And we decided to wait to tell people. Aaron’s family included, not just you.’

That was a lie, but her parent’s didn’t have to know that.

Her parents seemed to struggle for words, the shock on their faces slowly morphing into one of displeasure. She had hoped, stupidly, that they would react better than this, but she wasn’t surprised. Her father opened his mouth and then closed it again.

‘Katie.’ He managed to choke out. ‘Can we talk to you alone?’ His voice came out strained.

Katelyn frowned. ‘What? No, you can talk to me in front of my _fiancé_.’

Her mother’s newly forced smile grew tighter, and her voice took on an edge. ‘Katelyn-’

‘ _No_ , mom.’

Katelyn went to speak again, but Aaron cleared his throat to get her attention. He lifted his phone up and shook it back and forth. ‘Its fine, Kate. If you want me to stay, I will, but I can go and call Nicky outside if you want.’

Katelyn took a moment to consider her options and sighed. He was right, this would probably go down a lot easier if she played along with what they wanted. ‘Yeah, okay. Tell him I said hey?’

‘Always.’ He kissed her on the cheek and then left the room, leaving her alone with her parents. He hadn’t been out of the room for more than a second before her mother dropped the pleasantries and raised her voice.

‘Katelyn, you cannot honestly be thinking about marrying that boy. You know that he’s only ever going to bring you trouble.’

‘I’m not _thinking about_ marrying him, mom, I **am** marrying him. In less than three months.’

‘You’re too good for him.’ That was her father, his gruff voice making her bristle slightly. She didn’t want to fight with her parents, she really didn’t, but they weren’t making it easy.

‘He makes me happy. Can’t you just accept that?’

‘He’s a criminal, Katelyn. He’ll probably end up murdering someone else and getting locked up. Do you really want to be a prison wife?’

Katelyn felt herself snap, and she stood up, pushing the chair out away from the counter. ‘That’s enough. Don’t fucking talk about that mom, you have no idea what happened.’ She had no intention of spilling Aaron or Andrews secrets, so she pressed on. ‘It was _self-defence_. Aaron would never hurt _anyone_ , least of all me.’

‘Katelyn, you don’t know-’

‘No, _you_ don’t know! You never bothered to know, mom. I asked you to meet them and you refused, until you had to. You never bothered to get to know him, or his family!’

‘We never should have let you go to that damn college.’ Her dad practically growled out, and she felt herself starting to tear up but and she gritted her teeth and stood her ground. ‘That lowlife and his faggot brother-’

Katelyn cut him off sharply, as sharp as she had ever been with her parents. ‘Don’t you fucking dare, dad. Aaron is a good man, and he’s going to be a great husband. Andrew too, Neil could tell you that.’

Her mother raised her eyebrows and put a hand on her own hip. ‘Don’t you use that tone with us, young lady.’

Katelyn almost laughed. ‘That’s rich, coming from both of you. Do you even _want_ to come to the wedding?’ Her parents didn’t reply, and that was answer enough really. A slow, calm resignation washed over her and she took a deep, slow breath.

‘Okay.’ She nodded to herself and grabbed her coat from where it was draped it on the chair. It was fine. Everything was fine. ‘Okay, sure. We’ll send you an invitation. Feel free to show up.’ And without another glance at them she walked out of the room and down the hall, only hesitating when she reached the front door to call back to them before she slammed it shut. ‘Bye mom. Bye dad.’

Aaron was waiting for her outside when she got there. He held his arms out and she ran to him, sinking into his embrace before she started to cry. His rough hands smoothed her hair down, holding her close and she squeezed her eyes shut.

‘Andrew is on his way to come get us,’ he whispered, keep his voice as soft as his touch. ‘He and Neil are going to be passing this way anyway.’

He kissed her hair and Katelyn nodded, clinging to him for a few more seconds before stepping away to put her coat on. They sat on the curb outside the house waiting for Aaron’s family to come; Katelyn leaning into her husband-to-be’s side, trying to protect herself from the cold.

‘Kate? I’m sorry that I made things harder with your parents.’ Aaron sounded genuinely remorseful, and Katelyn shook her head, sighing wetly.

‘It’s… It’s not your fault, Aar. I love you. They’re just going to have to learn to accept that.’ She pressed a gentle kiss to his jaw then huffed against his neck. ‘I don’t even want them there if they’re just going to be rude to you and Andrew.’

Aaron wrapped an arm around her and let out a slow breath. Katelyn focused on his breathing, leaning her head to rest on his shoulder. She’d be fine, they’d be _fine_. Aaron’s family would be there, and her friends would all be there to support her. She was marrying the man of her _dreams_ , it didn’t matter if her parents wouldn’t be there. They’d get used to him eventually, anyway. He wasn’t going anywhere.

‘Hey, Aaron? I love you.’

She felt the vibrations of Aarons laugh travel through to her heart.

‘I love you too, Kate.’


End file.
